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Remember Your Baptism & Live It
Lectionary Reflection for The Baptism of our Lord, January 13, 2013
How will you remember your baptism on this day? How will you help other Christians remember and celebrate their baptism? What can we do to encourage one another to live our baptism each and every day? (Photo by auntjojo. Thanks!)
Resources for Talking about Money
The Rocket Company offers several free stewardship and preaching resources for pastors including webinars and downloadable documents. Click here to access them. Click here to access their free e-book 39 Things Pastors Need to Know about Money. Photo by Robert Huffstutter. Thanks!
Year-End Accounting Checklist for Churches
Here’s a year-end checklist for churches of common tax and administrative responsibilities that should be addressed as the year draws to a close. Pass the information along to finance committees and treasurers to make sure all loose ends are wrapped up. (Photo by 401kcalculator.org. Thanks!)
Wait Wait…Please tell me!
Lectionary Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2012
Advent involves waiting, but do tell the story in a way that invites disciples to live into the countercultural and radical message of the good news. Here are some ideas to begin that conversation. (Image: © BildPix.de – Fotolia.com)
Characteristics of an Excellent Stewardship Program
The Rev. Terry Parsons served as the Stewardship Director for the Episcopal Church from 1996-2008. She died in October 2012.
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
Congregations spend a lot of energy on a lot of different efforts, but here are five concepts to focus what your church does in order to make it more productive and faithful. The Five Practices website contains lots of supporting information and ideas to get your congregation moving. It’s the creation of Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church. (Photo by AlicePopkorn, used by Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
A Budget is a Statement of Faith
What does your church’s annual budget represent? Is it a proud menu of the hopes, dreams and missionary ministries your congregation wants to accomplish in the year to come? Or is it a life-support prescription for how the congregation expects to pay the staff, keep the lights burning, the sanctuary heated and the grass mowed? (Photo (c) Monkey Business, via Fotolia)
Bottom Line Ministries that Matter
From articulating a Christian call and moral obligation to stewardship of creation to practical ways to move toward congregational energy efficiency and cost-savings, this 36 page downloadable resource produced by the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program is good reading. Â (Photo by Horia Varlan used under Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
Looking for New Stewardship Resources?
Check out the educational offerings from Everence, a ministy of the Mennonite Church USA. You’ll find free downloadable curricula for adults, church leaders, youth, and even a Spanish language resource. There’s also a list of recommended books, calculators, and personal finance information, too. (Photo by opensourceway used under Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
Seven Practices to Shape Your Church’s Culture
Click here to read church vision expert Will Mancini’s thoughts on seven key practices to shape church culture. These practices can be used intentionally by church leaders to help articulate and shape culture and in turn clarify vision. (Photo by Alex Wiebe used under Creative Commons License. Thanks!)
